To Ease the Passing of Time

Pete and Barney are drinking beer in a bar in Lincoln Nebraska. It’s been a week or so since Joe Biden was elected, and Donald Trump still refuses to concede the election. Pete is a democrat and Barney is a republican, but they’ve been friends for a long time, and they are still friends, and they will always be friends…in spite of everything. They are well educated and well informed, and they like to read. Pete is the owner of a health food store and Barney is an accountant. Today, they’re talking about the division in their country.

Pete: You know what should happen in this country, Barney? For me, it’s the only solution.

Barney: What is it, Pete? What’s your solution?

Pete: Partition!

Barney: Partition! You mean like what happened in India in 1947.

Pete: Exactly! After India got its independence, and the Brits got out of there, they decided to create a new country: Pakistan. The idea was that the Hindus would stay in India and the Muslims would move to Pakistan.

Barney: And if you were a Hindu living in the region that became Pakistan you had to move to India.

Pete: Yeah! I think that would the perfect solution for us here in this Ununited States of America. The blue states would become one country, and the red states another country. The republicans who live in blue states would have to move to red states and vice versa. The republicans could build a big wall around their country, and they could have humongous statues of Trump everywhere like Kim Jong-Un in North Korea.

Barney: I know that you’re saying that tongue in cheek, Pete, but just for the sake of argumentàt, let’s say that it would be a feasible solution that could be applied here. Imagine all the people having to leave the place where they were born, where they work, where their families and friends are to move to another part of the country that would have become another country.

Pete: Well, Barney, that’s exactly what happened to people half-way around the world more than seventy years ago. They had to leave everything behind to start a new life in a new place. We often think that because those people were poor, and they were used to hardship and suffering, it was easier for them than it would be for us.

Barney: I know what you mean. Pete.